


Soul Meets Body

by LilithStarlight



Series: PLANS (August 30, 2005) [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: :3, Attempt at Humor, Boys Being Cute, Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, Cute Park Jisung (NCT), Cute Zhong Chen Le, Established Relationship, Feelings Realization, Friends to Lovers, Getting Lost, Love Confessions, M/M, Mentioned Mark Lee (NCT), Rated T for language, Sweet Qian Kun, and i'm copying someone else but, but maybe..... there will be some tie-ins later, but the chenle/jisung is eventual, chenle gets lost, cw for mentions of eating food in ch 2 but it's not in detail, don't need to read the rest of the series to get this one!, i love chenji, i love these boys lmaooo, i would say pining but it lasts for approximately 3 minutes, if i may: uwu, it's chenle, jisung calls chenle a bitch, love that for him, more like just being anxious, not explicit but kinda anxiety, now complete!!, of a sort, oho is this a direct tie in this time? yes, park jisung is cute and rude, part of the plans series, rated t for i'm Tired, side eye emoji, ten is Also cute and rude, this is the other fandom i get to say jisung has a pottymouth for :D
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:47:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25127992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilithStarlight/pseuds/LilithStarlight
Summary: Cuz in my head there’s a greyhound station – where I send my thoughts to far off destinationsChenle would like to submit what’s happened to him today as the next chapter in A Series of Unfortunate Events: he gets lost and stuck in a bus station on his way to visit his best friend, Jisung.Phone dead, no map, and a bad memory for phone numbers, he has no idea how he’s going to get out of this one.Luckily, he’s helped out by two very kind strangers, and perhaps he also makes an interesting discovery about himself and his feelings on his way to being un-lost.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Qian Kun, Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le
Series: PLANS (August 30, 2005) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1730053
Comments: 12
Kudos: 52





	1. far off destinations

Chenle wonders, not for the first time since he started this journey, if maybe he should have thought through his plan better.

In theory, visiting his best friend over spring break was a simple, logical process that, when planned far in advance, involved little effort to piece together travel plans.

In practice?

Well.

If being lost in a bus station that has approximately twenty different exits and hallways that all look the same, realizing too late that his phone hadn’t charged last night and is now dead, and feeling with dreadful certainty that all of the plans, locations, and ways to contact his friend were on said phone was Chenle’s initial plan, then everything is going just fine!

Of course, this was not his plan.

This is every worst-case scenario he’d imagined wrapped into one, bigger, worser case scenario.

(Yes, he knows ‘worser’ isn’t a word, but he’s stressed, cut him a break.)

Chenle desperately glances around the terminal, hoping to find something or someone who might be able to help him. Nobody really spares him a glance; it’s to be expected in a bigger city, but it isn’t helping him get any less lost. He doesn’t think the beige bucket hat he’s wearing helps his “looks like a forlorn tourist” case. Belatedly, he wonders if maybe there were any charging stations around, or at the very least a pay phone. If he can remember any of his contact numbers, that is.

He scans over the crowd of people (and silently thanks the gods for his last-minute growth spurt during his final year of high school) to find anything that could be of use.

Aha!

He sighs in relief as he spots a map of the terminal on the wall. It’s not a phone, but it’s a start.

Pushing through a crowd of people while lugging around a suitcase takes a bit longer than he thought it would, but finally he breaks through the throng of people and finds himself in front of the map.

As he examines it he realizes that he is maybe (definitely) not at all where he needs to be for his friend to pick him up. He doesn’t even know how he managed that; supposedly the exit he’d needed was right next to the bus he’d gotten off. Problem is, despite the map, he _still_ doesn’t really know how to get back to the terminal he needs.

He’s about to give up and resign to a life as a bus ticket seller when someone speaks up behind him.

“Hey kid, are you lost?”

Chenle whips around to see two young men standing behind him curiously. One is about the same height as him, maybe a little shorter with light brown hair. The other is even shorter with dark hair and round-rim glasses. Honestly, they don’t look much older than him, but he’s tired of not knowing where he is so he doesn’t comment about being called ‘kid’.

Instead, he says “Uhhh kinda? I think?”

One of them, the shorter one wearing glasses, chuckles at that. “How can you be “kinda” lost?” he asks, though not unkindly.

Chenle slumps his shoulders. “Okay, I’m lost,” he admits.

“It’s alright, kid,” the one with light brown hair says. “We’ve definitely gotten lost in bus terminals while travelling before. And on abandoned highways,” he says, trailing off at what must be not-so-fun memory.

The other guy shudders. “Yeah. Not pleasant.”

Chenle looks between them to see them both giving him a warm smile. He gives a hesitant smile back. He doesn’t know these people, so he normally would be cautious to engage with strangers. But they seem really nice and understanding.

Light brown hair guy speaks up again. “So! Anything we can do to help you out?”

Glasses guy nudges his friend. Light brown hair guy looks at him, irritated for a second, before his eyes widen. “Oh right! We never introduced ourselves! My name is Kun.”

Glasses guy rolls his eyes fondly. “And I’m Ten. How can we help you?”

Chenle is pleasantly surprised by how nice these people are, but still… He bites his lip.

“Are you sure it’s not too much trouble?”

Light brown – wait, Kun – shakes his head. “Trust me, we would have loved some extra help when we got lost, so it’s the least we can do to offer it to someone else.”

Chenle chuckles a little bit. Well, he supposes he can trust them if they gave their names so easily.

“That makes sense,” he says. “I’m Chenle, by the way. You wouldn’t happen to have a phone charger, would you? It’s just that my phone’s dead and all the info to find my friend and contact them is on there.”

“Hmm,” Ten considers, tapping his chin as he thinks. “We might, what kind of phone do you have?”

“Ah, one of the “new fancy iPhones”,” Chenle says, patting his pockets until he finds his lifeless ( _useless_ , he thinks spitefully) phone and pulls it out to show them. “So much for new and fancy if it dies after only two hours,” he grumbles.

Kun inspects it for a second while Ten chuckles at Chenle’s frustration.

“May I?” he asks, reaching his hand out.

“Sure,” Chenle agrees, handing it over, then belatedly realizing that despite their kindness he doesn’t actually know these two men and they might be more interested in just taking his stuff.

He opens his mouth to demand (politely ask) for it back when Kun hands it over willingly. Never mind on the demands, he supposes. Dang, these people are really nice. Chenle takes his phone wordlessly, a little stunned.

“Okay, so,” Kun says as he claps his hands. “Bad news; our chargers don’t work for your model of phone. But good news; I’ve been in this terminal a lot and they have some at the mini convenience stores all around the place!” he says, smiling widely.

Seriously, how do people this cheery and helpful just exist in the wild??

He’s content to stare at Kun in shock before he remembers he hasn’t responded yet. “Thank you!” he rushes to say. “I’ll just uh. Head on over then. Thanks again.”

Ten stops him before he can leave.

“Nah, man,” he says. “We’ll walk you there, they can be kind of hard to find.”

Chenle frowns. “You’ve already helped me so much, you don’t have to do anything else.

Kun smiles again. It seems to be a permanent part of his face. “We really don’t mind. If you’re not comfortable with it, we’ll stop, but we want to help if you need it.”

Chenle takes a moment to admire these two. Nobody had even spared him a second glance as he stood in the middle of the room. The moment he moved to the other side of the room, almost entirely hidden from view by the rush of people, Kun and Ten had found him and immediately offered assistance.

Maybe this isn’t the worser case scenario after all.

Chenle smiles, his first real, big one since his phone had died.

***

Ten and Kun must be guardian angels in disguise or something. Not only do they take him to the closest convenience store, they also buy the charger for him when he remembers his wallet is at the bottom of his suitcase (“why would I put it in there?” he asks himself out loud, huffing in annoyance and throwing his hat in his backpack for good measure) and it would be a pain to get out. Now they’re sitting with him at the benches just outside the shop and waiting with him while his phone charges.

Currently, they’re not talking about much. Just school, on Chenle’s end, and jobs in the case of Ten and Kun. Apparently, they had both graduated not too long ago, but they had gone to different schools. They met each other through the sheer coincidence of being apartment neighbors.

“If it wasn’t obvious from his mushy heart eyes,” Ten comments airily, pointing a thumb at Kun, “We’re together. Like, a couple,” he elaborates while Kun blushes furiously.

“Ten!” he exclaims, embarrassed. “I do not make mushy heart eyes!” He makes a little _hmph_ sound. “And besides,” he adds, “It’s not like you don’t look at me like, and I quote, “I’m the sun and you’ve been inside all winter”.”

Ten scoffs at that. “I absolutely do not do that, you sap,” he snaps, but there’s no heat behind it; he’s definitely smiling at his partner as he pretends to be angry.

Chenle is just enjoying the show, happy to see these two men joking around with each other lovingly, and Chenle finds it cute despite how corny they are.

After a few seconds of faux glaring, they both finally break down into laughter before remembering they have an audience and calming down.

“So, Chenle,” Kun starts, side-eyeing Ten every few seconds to make sure he doesn’t interrupt or embarrass him again. “Who’s this friend you’re waiting for?”

Chenle smiles, feeling his cheeks heating up. Have they always done that? “His name is Jisung, he’s great! He’s really funny, and he cares about his friends a lot, and he’s adorable, and he’s kinda scared of everything but it’s really cute.” Woah, where did all that come from? Jisung is a great friend, but he just kinda spouted all of those sappy compliments off the top of his head…

Then Chenle jolts out of his thoughts, suddenly remembering his purpose in finding a phone charger in the first place.

“Ah!” he exclaims. “I’m so sorry, give me one second. I completely forgot to turn on my phone.”

Ten just shrugs, an easy smile on his face. “Do what you’ve gotta do.”

“Take your time,” Kun adds gently.

Chenle holds the power and waits for the little logo to pop up on the screen.

“Come on, come on,” he whispers to himself impatiently. Finally, he feels his palms vibrate as his phone comes back to life. He rushes to unlock it, hoping that he hasn’t worried his friend too much.

The screen buffers. Chenle groans. Of course, it would be right now that his phone tries to refresh. Then it loads, and all of his missed notifications flood in at once. Chenle has to put his phone on the bench in fear that the constant vibrations would end up shaking his hand right off.

He looks up to see Ten and Kun watching him in amusement. He chuckles awkwardly, looking back down when the vibrations finally stop. He swipes his notifications down, looking for his messages first. And he almost drops his phone.

_27 messages, 8 missed calls from Jisungie_

Eight missed calls?? _Holy shit_ , Chenle thinks to himself. Jisung _never_ calls anyone, claiming that he hates not being able to see the other person while they speak. He must have been freaking out.

Chenle doesn’t bother to read the messages, noting that the most recent call is from only six minutes ago. He looks back at the young men waiting with him.

“I’m just gonna. Call him real quick,” he manages to say.

“No problem,” Ten says, smiling almost lazily. Kun nods and gives him a little wave.

Chenle stands up, clutching his phone close and hitting the _call back_ button once he’s a few feet away.

He holds the phone up to his ear.

_Ring_

_Ring_

_Click_

“CHENLE ZHONG, WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?” is the first thing Chenle hears, and he has to hold the phone away from his face for a moment. When he’s sure Jisung is finished, he pulls it back to his ear.

“Hey, Jisungie,” he tries, attempting to sound upbeat and not like he’s about to get his ass verbally kicked.

“Don’t ‘hey, Jisungie’ me, bitch, where the hell are you?? I’ve been waiting at this terminal for nearly an hour and I thought something happened to you because you never told me that you got in, or answered any of my texts! Or calls! I called you, man, you know I hate that! What is going on, dude?” Jisung ends his rant sounding fairly frantic, now more scared than angry.

Chenle swallows. He was worried his friend would be upset, he just didn’t think it would be this bad.

“Jisung, I’m so sorry. My phone died and I didn’t think it would, and I forgot my charger, and I got lost and it’s been terrible. I forgot that everything I needed to find my way around was in my phone so when it died I couldn’t find where I was supposed to go.”

Chenle can hear Jisung breathe in, hold it, and exhale deeply. He imagines Jisung’s anger is already deflating. He never seems to stay mad at him long, as long as he gives him a legitimate explanation. Chenle doesn’t really get it, but he’s grateful, so he never pushes it.

“So, how did you end up calling me after your phone died?” and Chenle can tell that he’s no longer angry, just annoyed. And worried.

“Well…” Chenle trails off, looking back up at the couple still seated on the bench. They’re laughing together at something on Ten’s phone, not caring about the world around them. Chenle smiles at them. He can’t place exactly why it warms his heart so much, but it does.

“A really nice couple found me and they helped me find my way. They showed me how to read the map better, they took me to the convenience store, they even bought me a charger!” he exclaims, still marveling at how kind the two strangers are.

Jisung huffs in laughter.

“They sound great, I’m glad they found you,” and his voice is much softer now. He sighs again. Chenle waits for him to respond. He sounds like he has something else to say, and Chenle doesn’t want to rush him.

“Chenle,” he says, voice small. “I was so worried about you. I really thought something bad had happened.”

Chenle hangs his head. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault!” Jisung insists. “It’s just. I was scared.” Chenle thinks he hears a sniffle, and he feels awful. Upsetting Jisung is always the last thing he wants to do.

“I’m still sorry,” Chenle says. “I’ll make sure to pack twenty seven chargers the next time I come to visit.”

He gets a chuckle out of Jisung at that, so he cracks a smile too.

“Where did you end up waiting?” Chenle eventually asks.

“I’m by terminal 10, that’s where we agreed to meet. Where are you?”

Chenle hums to himself, looking up at the closest sign. He’s currently at… terminal 2. Whoops. He sighs.

“Well,” Chenle says, “If my map reading skills have improved at all from today, I’m on the complete other side of the bus station.

Jisung sighs too. “You should probably get a move on, then.” Then he snickers. “You should probably bring your new friends with you. Don’t want you to get lost again.”

“Hey!” Chenle protests, but he ends up laughing too.

Once they both calm down, there’s a moment of quiet.

“See you soon, Jisungie,” Chenle says softly.

“Yeah,” Jisung says. “See you soon.” It sounds like he’s smiling as he says it. Chenle feels his heart beat a little faster at how sweet he sounds.

Huh. That’s new.

A little more quiet follows. Maybe Jisung is going to say something else, something caring. Then,

“Bye, bitch,” Chenle hears, followed by a swift _click_.

Chenle looks at his phone in disbelief, then rolls his eyes and pockets it.

“Kids these days, I swear to god,” he mutters under his breath. But he smiles anyway. Jisung is always like this, soft one second then brutal the next.

Walking back to Ten and Kun, Chenle sees that they’ve stopped moving around and laughing, and Ten is currently resting his head on his partner’s shoulder. They’re very cute together, Chenle muses to himself. Out of nowhere, he’s filled with the idea of finding a partner who is as kind and loving as these two are.

Someone who is reliable, who looks out for him, who teases him but genuinely cares for him.

Someone like Jisung…

Oh.

_Oh._

_Oh god._

Maybe it’s the stresses of the day and he’s simply depending on a familiar voice. Or maybe today is just a catalyst in a series of sudden realizations. Whatever it is, Chenle can only stare off into space as he reanalyzes his entire relationship with his best friend. Of 17 years.

And it’s not looking like it’s falling on the side of “platonic”.

In hindsight, it makes sense.

_For a very recent example_ , his brain unhelpfully provides: _Many of his friends had offered to hang out with him during the school break, some with promises of travelling to whole other countries and going on wild adventures. And he’d turned down all of them because he’d already made plans with Jisung. Several weeks before break even started. He didn’t even think about the new offers; being with Jisung was more important._

Then he thinks back to their history. Years spent growing up together – hanging out only with each other, sometimes for days on end; cuddling with Jisung at any opportunity (Which is fine, he cuddles with a lot of his other friends platonically. But also, he doesn’t have anyone else that he feels the urge to be glued to at all times.); watching friends leave his hometown, college bound, without a single tear – then sobbing unconsolably when he realized that when he graduated high school he would be moving away from Jisung…

Yeah, maybe he should have seen this coming.

He doesn’t know how long he stands there, staring off into space and thinking about this new revelation. What he does know is that he’s jolted back into the present when a hand suddenly appears in front of his face and waves a few times.

He refocuses his gaze to see Ten, leaning over slightly with his hand still outstretched. The noise of the crowd around him tunes back in as well. He hadn’t noticed he’d tuned it out in the first place.

“Earth to Chenle,” Ten sing-songs. “Are you still in there?”

Kun is also there, and he smacks Ten’s hand away. “Be nice! He was thinking!” Then he hesitates and turns to Chenle. “I mean, I think you were?”

Chenle just nods numbly before shaking his head a few time, as if he could physically clear his thoughts. He had no idea when they’d gotten up to stand next to him, but he has an excuse for his absentmindedness.

“Yeah, I was thinking.”

“What were you thinking about?” Kun asks with a tilt of his head.

“I was uhh.” He pauses for a moment, unsure of how exactly to say this out loud. “I think I’m a little in love with my best friend?”

Well, that wasn’t what he’d meant to say, but it got the point across.

Ten and Kun are now looking at him with the same unidentifiable gleam in their eyes, halfway between surprised and knowing.

“And how did this revelation come about?” Ten asks. “I mean I figured you might be a little into him, based on how you talked about him earlier.” He looks like he’s fighting off a smirk. Then Kun smacks his shoulder with another quick “be nice!”

Chenle frowns a bit, not appreciating the smug look on Ten’s face. Then he bites his lip instead and fidgets with the edge of his shirt a bit. His face flushes as he realizes what he’s about to say and he looks down.

“I mean… I saw how cute you two are together, and I realized the way you interact is a lot like how Jisung and I are when we’re together.” He chances a glance up to see that Ten’s mouth is hanging open a bit. Apparently, he was not expecting that. Emboldened by Ten’s surprise, Chenle looks back down and continues.

“And I realized that I love how dependable he is, and that he loves to tease me but he still knows when to be sweet, and I love how cute he is when he’s scared of a tiny spider in the bathroom, and so many other things…” Wow, waxing shitty poetic about Jisung just comes naturally now, huh.

It’s like now that he’s realized how he feels about Jisung, it’s all he can think about. And talk about. He normally doesn’t word-vomit his feelings like this, he promises, especially to two men he’s literally just met.

When Chenle finally has the courage to look back up, Kun is looking at him with wide, surprised eyes, and somehow he’s _still_ smiling at him fondly. Ten still hasn’t taken the shocked look off his face, but he’s recovered slightly.

There’s silence for a moment, before Ten finally says, “Well, shit. I didn’t expect that.”

Chenle breathes out shakily. “I didn’t either.” He runs a hand through his hair. “It’s been a day full of surprises, huh.”

The implications of being in love with his best friend suddenly catch up with him all at once.

There’s no way Jisung likes him back; he probably just puts up with all of Chenle’s affections because he’s a good friend.

He thinks through his options.

Best case scenario, he tells Jisung how he feels, and Jisung will smile awkwardly but kindly and reject him as nicely and sweetly as possible, and their friendship would go on as normal, and in a few months (years, maybe) Chenle would get over his first and only love.

Worst case scenario, he tells Jisung how he feels, and his friendship – a friendship that’s survived Chenle giving them both haircuts in elementary school and Jisung trying and failing to go through an emo phase in middle school _and_ both of them avoiding communication with each other for several weeks in high school because people were rude about them holding hands in public (seriously, _how_ did he not notice??) – would crumble into dust on the spot.

Ten and Kun seem to notice his sudden flood of nerves because they exchange a glance before Kun approaches him carefully. He places a hand on Chenle’s shoulder, and Chenle looks up at him to see nothing but warmth in his eyes. It helps him relax a bit.

“Can I ask you a question?” Kun asks gently. Chenle looks at him a bit more, then nods. Kun smiles.

“Do you want to talk about this with Jisung?” When Chenle shakes his head aggressively at that, he asks another question. “Are you afraid of talking to him?”

Chenle sucks in a breath at that.

“I think…” he says slowly, “I think I’m afraid of Jisung not liking me. Not necessarily romantically, I’m mostly just worried that he will think I’m horrible and that I’m trying to ruin our friendship.”

Ten speaks up then, just as carefully as Kun.

“From what you’ve told us about Jisung, he doesn’t seem like the kind of friend that would think that about you,” he says evenly. After a pause, he asks “Can I give you some advice?”

Chenle nods again at that, feeling like his words are spent. Ten reaches over to ruffle his hair with a small grin.

“I understand being afraid of telling someone you like them,” he says, glancing at Kun as he says this, who gives him a fond gaze in return. “But, I also know what it’s like to not talk through things with someone, and let me tell you, it doesn’t end well. This is something you’ll have to address, because holding in your feelings is bad for you. It can hurt you, and it can hurt the people around you. So please,” he says, offering a hand. Chenle takes it without hesitation. “For yourself as much as for Jisung, talk to him about this. He sounds like he’s the kind of friend who cares for you and wouldn’t judge you for this.”

Chenle is silent for a moment, absorbing it all. He nods a few times. When he’s finally gathered his thoughts (and his courage), he speaks up in a tiny, but determined voice.

“Okay. I’ll do it. I’ll talk to him.”

Ten and Kun smile at his resolve.

“Ready to go, then?” Ten asks.

Chenle nods, unlinking his hand from Ten’s, and straightens his back, more sure of himself. “I’m ready.”

They go back to the bench first to make sure they grab the charger, then head toward terminal 10. Chenle takes the lead, a little bit eager to show off his map reading skills, but mostly he can’t wait to see Jisung.

“Well, Ten,” Chenle can hear Kun say, and he definitely has a playful smirk on based on his tone. “You were quite inspirational back there. I had no idea you knew how to do that.”

Next comes the sound of Kun laughing, and Chenle looks back to see him dodging Ten’s hands that are currently chopping toward him with reckless abandon.

Chenle laughs too, feeling a weight lift off his shoulders as he turns back to face the front. He feels less nervous now, knowing that there’s two new people behind him to support him.

When he finally sees Jisung again, he’ll be ready.


	2. the only song i want to hear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _So Brown Eyes, I hold you near, ‘cuz you’re the only song I want to hear;  
>  A melody, softly soaring through my atmosphere. _
> 
> Chenle finally reunites with Jisung, so the next logical step is to wait a few days and have time to catch up as Bros before Chenle confesses his feelings, and then whatever happens, happens, right?  
> Well.  
> Chenle’s brain and Chenle’s mouth have different agendas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *laughs nervously* sorry that took so long fam  
> honestly it might be a bit of a mess because i wrote part of it right after part one then the rest in little chunks starting back in august/septermber until now???  
> so uh yeah here's the thrilling conclusion to: chenji being cute and probably (very) in love  
> enjoy!

It’s a little odd, Chenle thinks, to make friends he would probably be willing to take a bullet for with complete strangers within the span of about an hour.

But he did it anyway.

And here they are, talking and laughing as they make their way across the bus station.

They exchange contacts as they walk, Chenle thanking the others profusely; helping him with a being lost crisis aside, they basically gave him a mini love counseling session. He cringes a little to think about how long it might have taken for him to realize how he feels about Jisung without Ten and Kun to help him sort out his emotions.

As they finally near the (correct) bus terminal, as happy as he is that he’ll get to see Jisung soon, he feels a little twinge of sadness at the possibility of never seeing them again. Kun and Ten seem to sense this as they match Chenle’s unconsciously slower pace.

“What’s up, kid?” Ten asks.

Chenle hums. “I’m glad I’ll be seeing Jisung, but… I think I’ll miss you both a lot.”

Kun and Ten seem taken aback. Then they both give him matching soft smiles, and Chenle almost comments on how similar they are if it weren’t for the fact that they’re probably going to try to give him a heartwarming speech.

And he’s correct.

“Chenle, even if we miss each other, you have a way to contact us. And maybe this isn’t what you want to hear, but even if we lose touch, we’ll still have this fond memory together. Not even time can erase the fact that it was nice to meet you and get to know you,” Kun says with a fond look in his eyes.

Ten nods in agreement. “And even if we don’t meet up again, you’ll still have this bus station that you got epically lost in to remember us by,” he says solemnly, then he can’t hold it and his mouth turns up into a teasing smirk. Chenle stares, disbelieving, for a second before he laughs at the declaration. Kun sighs, shaking his head.

“You ruined the moment, Tennie,” he says in fake exasperation.

“I was trying to make it lighter! You were so serious about it, I wanted to try and make him laugh again!” Ten argues back, and though he was quick to joke earlier, Chenle can tell by his word choice that he would miss Chenle too. So he smiles to himself.

“Thanks, you two.”

Ten and Kun stop playfully bickering in order to look at him, before they smile again, brighter this time.

“Of course,” Kun says, and Ten nods again.

“Anytime, kid.”

As it turns out, Chenle doesn’t have to be too concerned about never seeing Ten and Kun again.

After finally reaching terminal 10, he thinks about turning around to say his tearful (he wouldn’t even deny it) farewell, when he’s nearly bowled to the ground by a gangly college student latching onto him at high speeds.

The squawk that escapes his throat is completely involuntary and he doesn’t know how he was able to create it.

After a few moments of stumbling, flailing his arms until he realizes who the college student is, and trying to stabilize himself onto a Jisung that has him in a death grip, Chenle finally is able to stand solidly on the ground. He plans on looking up to see Jisung’s (cute) face before he realizes that he is, in fact, buried in his shoulder and refusing to let go. Chenle gives his head a few gentle pats before remembering that they aren’t alone.

He turns to see Kun and Ten, smiling fondly again and trying not to smirk at him, respectively. He smiles back at Kun and sticks his tongue out at Ten, who has the audacity to fake being offended.

Then he realizes he should probably introduce Jisung to his new best friends.

“Oh, Jisung; these are my new friends. They helped me find you,” he says, trying and failing to not be distracted and awkward the whole time.

Jisung looks at them then looks back at Chenle. Then back to them. _Does he recognize them?_ Chenle thinks.

Ten clears his throat slightly, and Chenle turns to gaze at him, confused.

“Do we have names, Chenle?” he asks innocently, but there’s mirth in his eyes as Chenle gasps at his mistake.

“Oh! Uhh their names are Kun and Ten, they’re…” he pauses. “Boyfriends, right?” Kun snickers at that.

“Yes, we’re boyfriends. And you must be Jisung. Hi, I’m Kun,” he says with a smile.

“Which means I would be Ten,” Ten says, waving.

Jisung is _still_ staring at them like he’s trying to (gently) dissect them with his eyes. Then:

“Are you that couple that Mark helped wingman?” he asks suddenly, so quiet and unlike the Jisung that had called him a bitch over the phone that Chenle isn’t sure if the others can hear it. Chenle certainly does, though, and his jaw drops at the revelation.

“You know them already?” he asks, incredulous.

“Well, I’ve never met them together, but I’ve seen them around,” Jisung reasons. “Also, most of my friends my age left for college, which means that I ran out of people I knew to talk to. I hang out with Mark and Renjun and his boyfriends all the time now. And Mark talks about literally everything he does unless he needs to keep it secret.”

Chenle nods. That’s fair, honestly.

He’s about to ask what he had meant by saying Renjun’s boyfriends (plural, as in more than one) when he realizes, for the second time in about five minutes, he got distracted by Jisung and forgot about the other people with them.

When he glances at them, he sees that Kun is giggling like a fool while Ten, for once, looks a little embarrassed, but still amused.

When Jisung turns to look at them too, Kun sighs, coming down from his laughing fit.

“Yes, we are the couple that Mark helped wingman. I don’t know how much of it was him doing it on purpose and how much was just Mark being Mark, but yes, he helped,” he says, fighting to keep a smile off his face.

Chenle is just close enough to hear Ten mumble, ”Still can’t believe I didn’t notice he was trying to set me up.”

“Well, he did, and it worked,” Kun says, planting a kiss on Ten’s cheek, and Chenle thinks it’s cute. “Now you’re stuck with me.” Ten loses what looks like an internal battle with himself and smiles at the gesture.

When Chenle looks back at Jisung, he looks fascinated with their display of affection, and he’s smiling very softly. Chenle thinks that’s cute also. He kind of wants to ask Jisung what’s on his mind when he seems to shake himself out of his thoughts.

“Sorry to break up the moment, but we should probably get home,” he says, looking first to Ten and Kun, then to Chenle, who nods in agreement.

“Probably,” he says, trailing off. He really will have to say goodbye now…

“Hey,” Ten says softly as he walks up to him, “Now you know we live here, you can come visit whenever you come back home.”

Chenle blinks a few times, then beams at the realization. He opens his arms and Ten swoops in to give him a hug. Kun is quick to join behind them, and Chenle grabs Jisung’s hand, not sure if he wants to join the hug but craving the contact. He smiles when Jisung wraps his arms around all of them after only a few seconds.

They have to split up eventually, with Ten and Kun saying goodbye gently before they all smile and wave at each other as they walk away.

“Thank you again! See you around!” Chenle yells when they’re already several meters away. He hears them laugh at it, and Jisung whisper-yells a scandalized “Chenle!” while smacking him lightly, surprised at the volume.

Chenle grins anyway. His spring break got off to an odd, bumpy start, but now he’s looking forward to a whole week of hanging out with his best friend.

That he’s in love with.

Oh well, he’ll come up with a plan later.

Chenle _does_ come up with a plan later. It formulates in the taxi on the way to Jisung’s dormitory, in between conversations about anything and everything.

“So, how have I never met Ten before now? You said he was Mark’s childhood friend?”

“Apparently they’d been neighbors since forever, but I’ve only met him just this year. Because Ten is older by a few years, Mark thought he would be bothering him by trying to introduce him to us. Because, y’know, he’s Mark,” Jisung says, rolling his eyes.

Now that he’s not around Ten and Kun, his awkward shyness has melted away and he’s back to his regular self (read: sassy).

Chenle just snorts in response, and goes back to his plotting.

The plan is simple – and he means it this time, it’s almost impossible to mess this up. All he has to do is wait until the last night of vacation so that they can spend a whole week together as best friends. Then he can confess before he goes home – just in case it’s awkward and he needs to flee – but also not _right_ before he goes home – in case Jisung needs time to process and talk about it. It’s literally flawless.

So flawless, in fact, that it actually takes almost a full hour before it falls apart.

The ride to the dorm is fairly short, and before Chenle knows it Jisung is pulling out a keycard to let himself in.

Once they toe their shoes off and Chenle sets everything down in Jisung’s room, they convene in the mini kitchen.

“So, what do you wanna do first?” Chenle asks, leaning against the counter.

Jisung shrugs.

“You’re the guest, what do you wanna do?”

“Your place, you get to pick,” Chenle says with an exaggerated bow. Jisung wrinkles his nose (cutely) at the idea but agrees anyway.

“How about we start with a movie and some snacks? I just got a ton of chips and candy and shit if you want?”

Chenle gasps.

“ _Hell_ yes, dude, that’s literally the sexiest thing you’ve ever said.” Jisung aims to smack at his shoulder again and misses, Chenle already dodging before he’d finished speaking and taking a few steps back. Then he cackles as he starts opening pantries at wild hoping to find the snacks.

Only to turn around and see that Jisung is already holding them – they had been in the cupboard behind him the whole time.

“You’re a turd, you know that?” Chenle deadpans.

“Yes, you tell me all the time.”

They hold each other’s unimpressed gazes for a few seconds before they both break into laughter. Working together, they set up a pretty impressive snack display and move it into the tiny living room. They catch up as they go, recounting stories they hadn’t told each other over text yet and laughing when one of them says something even a little bit funny.

Chenle missed this, the easy familiarity he has with Jisung. He never gets used to the rush of comfort he gets returning to spend time with his best friend, even if it happens every time he comes home for break.

Jisung, still snickering at something, grabs the remote as they sit down. The TV switches on, and Chenle gets lost in thought just looking at Jisung as he wanders through Netflix. It’s cute how he subconsciously pokes his tongue out in concentration. The more he thinks about it, the more he thinks everything Jisung does is cute. Even when he roasts the shit out of Chenle, he doesn’t mind; it just means Jisung is comfortable around him.

As if to prove his point, just as the thought crosses Chenle’s mind Jisung casually leans against his shoulder as he continues his search for a good movie. Chenle didn’t realize this would cause him to inhale sharply but silently. But it does.

_Wow_. _Oh wow_ , is all that crosses Chenle’s mind. Jisung’s really, _really_ cute like this, and now all Chenle can think about is how much he likes Jisung, to the point where he wonders, briefly, if his eyes might have physically changed shape to look like hearts. It kind of feels like his head is full of loose wiring and whatever machine that keeps his thoughts together is breaking down.

He almost doesn’t notice Jisung talking to him, probably would have missed it if not for Jisung tilting his head back to look up at him. Also adorable, what the _fuck_.

“What do you think?”

The last screw falls out of the machine that is Chenle’s brain and he short circuits.

“I think I like you,” he ends up saying in a rush. Then his mind comes back online, in time for him to panic at his admission.

It doesn’t help that Jisung has frozen all movements, not even blinking as he continues to stare at Chenle. Slowly, he sits up to look at him, all the soft playfulness carefully tucked away.

After a few tense moments, Jisung breaks the silence.

“I don’t think I know that movie,” he says, the lightness of his tone incredibly forced. Then his expression changes into something Chenle doesn’t really recognize. “Unless… unless you mean something else?”

Does he sound weirded out? Angry? Oddly hopeful? Sad? Chenle has no idea with the blank screen his thoughts have become. One thing sticks out clear in his mind, and it’s the fact that Jisung didn’t immediately run away or curse him out, so maybe… maybe he should just say fuck it and go for it.

“Fuck it,” Chenle says quietly. “I’m gonna go for it.” When Jisung only raises his eyebrows in mild concern, Chenle sighs. He turns to meet Jisung’s gaze face to face. Now or never, Chenle supposes.

“Jisung,” he starts. He pauses, thinking through the best way to say this. Then, “I’m going to be very honest with you. I was planning on waiting until the end of the week to say anything, but after I got lost today and Ten and Kun helped me find my way again, they helped me with something else too.” He pauses to try and read Jisung’s expression, but it’s the same eyebrows-raised-mildly-alarmed look. Chenle sighs and plows on with his mini speech.

“They helped me realize that you are the kind of person I want to always be friends with,” and when Jisung furrows his brows in confusion, Chenle hastily continues, “In addition to wanting to ask you out and do romantic things like going on dates with you.” Jisung’s eyebrows shoot up, eyes wide and shocked.

“Um,” Chenle says, losing track of what he wanted to say. So, he says what he feels.

“I just really like you, Jisung, and I can’t believe it took me this long to realize. I like you a lot, and I might even love you, romantically and as my best friend.” He slumps a bit, looking away. “So, yeah. You don’t have to say anything, or do anything. I just… I just felt like you should know. That I like you.”

When Jisung is silent in response, he tries not to worry. He can’t look up at him, too afraid to see his reaction.

Until he hears Jisung laugh awkwardly, mumbling something to himself. Chenle isn’t too sure what he said but it sounded like…

“Say that again,” Chenle says as he meets Jisung’s gaze again, knowing he sounds desperate but he has to know. “Please.”

Jisung blinks a few times, clearly tense, but relaxes slightly after a few moments. He gives Chenle a hesitant smile.

“I said, “Well, that’s good, because I’ve liked you ever since I started high school.””

Chenle is speechless.

“That long?” he whispers.

Jisung nods.

“And I figured out I was in love with you when you were going to leave for college realized you would have to leave home,” he says.

Chenle gapes at him.

“I was crying because I was leaving you!” he exclaims, then covers his mouth with his hand. He removes it seconds later.

“No, you know what? I’m not gonna wait anymore. I’m gonna say it again; Park Jisung, I love you. I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out until now, but I do. If it’s cool with you, I really want to take you on romantic dates and all that good stuff.”

Jisung giggles at him.

“That sounds good to me. You have to pick this time, though.”

Chenle smiles, real and big.

“Sounds good to me, too.”

They spend the next hour or so just talking about what this means for their relationship. They’re still best friends, of course, but they just want to make sure they’re both on the same page. There’s realizations (“Dude, you realize this means Mark indirectly wing-manned us too, right?” “Zhong Chenle, if you tell another living soul about this I’m removing your eyebrows.” “… Fair.”), there’s questions (“Do you think you would have told me before now?” “Not for a while. I was too scared about ruining everything. Turns out, all I needed was to be brave for a moment, but you beat me to it.” A smile from both of them. “I know you know this already, but our friendship has survived so much weird shit. I don’t think I would have minded at any point if you told me you liked me.” “Thanks, Lele.”), and there’s emotional moments (“Bro, why are you crying? You good?” “Sorry, it’s just been a really long day and I’m tired and I like you and you like me back and we’ve decided to be boyfriends? I’m so happy honestly it’s just that this has felt like the weirdest emotional rollercoaster ever.” Jisung huffs, then reaches over to wipe off some of the tears with the pad of his thumb. Chenle gives him a watery but content smile. “But I like where I ended up.”).

One of the best discoveries is one Chenle makes hours later; after they watch three movies in a row and demolish half of Jisung’s pantry; after they order in dinner because they’re somehow still hungry; after they end up cuddling on the couch for a while, on their phones while they talk about nothing and everything.

It comes to him as he goes to lie down in bed next to Jisung as they get ready to sleep – they had planned on Chenle sleeping on the couch until he inevitably moved to Jisung’s room, but with the new revelation they decide to just skip the formalities and go right to snuggling.

He’s holding tight to Jisung, smiling softly at him and he’s sure he looks like a lovesick fool, when he suddenly gasps. Jisung raises an eyebrow at him, concerned and amused in equal measure. Chenle sits up excitedly and gives Jisung a huge, mischievous grin.

“Does this mean we get to up our PDA levels to the maximum?” Jisung is quiet, and then he sits up silently. He leans in close to Chenle, whispering in his ear.

“ _Fuck yeah_ , dude.”

Giggling, they go back to lying in each other’s arms, smiling like fools and so, _so_ in love already.

Chenle can’t wait to spend the week with his boyfriend, his best friend – his Jisung.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyway for clarification chenle is a sophomore/year 2 in college and jisung is a freshman/year 1  
> will we learn about tenkun's backstory? will we see more of mark? yes and yes, but no promises on when that is,,, hopefully soon since school is almost done
> 
> anyway! stay safe everyone! drink water, get some rest, wear a mask when you go outside, and support BLM!!

**Author's Note:**

> howdy again :3  
> part 2 of the plans series! this one has two chapters, so look forward to part 2 of part 2, coming soon :D
> 
> anyway i love chenji and their cute dynamics. babies being sassy babies.  
> also ten and kun? is there a backstory behind that??? maybe so,,,,,
> 
> also! ways to help!  
> black lives matter: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/  
> yemen crisis: https://yemencrisis.carrd.co/  
> black hills legal defense fund: https://bhlegalfund.org/
> 
> stay safe out there! wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands, and please be kind to each other!! <3 <3


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